RUSI on Russian Tactics

The War in Ukraine (2014-2023)

122mm Field Howitzer (circa 1914)

Last week, the Royal United Service Institute published a little book on the tactics used by Russian forces in Ukraine over the course of the past few months. The title of the work leaves much to be desired, so much so that I will refrain from repeating it here. The study itself, however, contains much of value for students of position warfare in the present age.

Much of what is described in the study falls easily into the category of “everything old is new again.” Thus, readers familiar with methods used in the Korean War, the Second World War, or the First World War will experience a great deal of déjà vu (or, to be more precise, déjà lu.) A few of the techniques mentioned, however, qualify as “entirely new.” (The most frightening of these uses electronic devices to “hijack” unmanned aerial vehicles.)